


A New Horizon

by Serie11



Series: Femslash February 2018 [10]
Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Elf Talanah Khane Padish, Elf/Human Relationship(s), F/F, Fantasy incorporated into canon, Talanah POV, Witch Aloy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 07:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13654614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Even though Talanah was lost in her thoughts, she didn’t miss a young human girl asking for entrance to the Lodge. Talanah eyed her for a few seconds. Humans weren’t a rare sight in Meridian, but inside the Lodge, elves were definitely the most prominent race. Especially since all the Hawks were elves. Sun King Avad had ordered that the Loge be open to all, including humans and other races, but so far elves remained the only ones to wear the official Lodge colours. Ahsis hadn’t said outright, but Talanah knew that sponsoring someone who wasn’t an elf would not be acceptable to him.





	A New Horizon

 

Talanah had not been having the best day.

Her mentor had fallen to the monster Redmaw and she had just dealt with all the formalities that had gone along with being promoted to the highest tier of the Hunter’s Lodge. Tarkas was a rough man, but Talanah could only mourn him and curse him for his stupidity at trying to take down Redmaw by himself. The beast was too strong for anyone to face alone. Talanah could admit that, so why couldn’t anyone else? She supposed that it just came down to their egos – damn men and thinking that they were better than everyone else. It was so frustrating.

Even though she was lost in her thoughts, she didn’t miss a young human girl asking for entrance to the Lodge. Talanah eyed her for a few seconds. Humans weren’t a rare sight in Meridian, but inside the Lodge, elves were definitely the most prominent race. Especially since all the Hawks were elves. Sun King Avad had ordered that the Loge be open to all, including humans and other races, but so far elves remained the only ones to wear the official Lodge colours. Ahsis hadn’t said outright, but Talanah knew that sponsoring someone who wasn’t an elf would not be acceptable to him.

Well, honestly? Fuck what he thought. Talanah could do whatever she wanted, and with the word of the Sun King to back her up, there was literally nothing Ahsis could do. She was tempted to smile at the thought, but it felt too disrespectful to do on the day that Tarkas had died.

Talanah looked for the human again, but she was gone. Talanah shook her head slightly. She was dreaming, again. She couldn’t believe that she’d missed the opportunity to go with Tarkas to hunt Redmaw. She was certain that if they’d gone together, the two of them could have prevailed. Tarkas knew that she wanted to unseat Ahsis at any cost, so why wouldn’t he have brought her along? She’d failed to be where she was needed most, yet again. She clenched her teeth. This was just a repeat of what had happened with her father and brother, and she hated that it was her fault that someone she cared about was dead, yet again.

Lost in thought, she almost missed the words that are directed at her.

“Excuse me? Are you Talanah?”

Talanah turned to see the human standing near her. She nodded, and the girl stepped forward boldly. Talanah stared at her hair – that type of colour was never something that an elf would have naturally, and it made her stand out among all the forest browns and blacks that filled the Lodge’s main area.

“Ahsis told me that you were free to sponsor a Thrush. I’d like you to consider me as a candidate.”

“Oh?” Talanah looked the human up and down. There was a bow on her back, which Talanah approved of, and she looked fit – or as fit as a human could be, anyway. “There’s never been a human Thrush in the Lodge before.”

Talanah wasn’t against sponsoring the girl for that – it would make her as big of a hypocrite as Ahsis. But she wanted to see the human’s reply.

“Just because it’s never been done before doesn’t mean it can’t happen,” the human said confidently. “And the Sun King said that membership was open to all that wanted to join.”

“He did,” Talanah said. “But Ahsis hates humans. Not sure why, but he’s got a grudge against them as big as the Daybrink. But I’ll tell you a secret – I hate Ahsis just as much.” Talanah tilted her head. “What’s your name?”

“Aloy,” she said, eyes bright and determined.

Well then. Talanah was always one to go out on a limb. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “If you bring three sawtooth trophies, two ravage trophies and one stalker trophy to Ahsis, that will really tick him off. You’ve got to speak in their language, and that’s something that they’ll be forced to acknowledge.” And it also served the added benefit of showing Talanah how serious Aloy was. If she was just a human without any skill, she would either fail at getting the trophies or not try at all. Either way, she wouldn’t be Talanah’s problem. But if she did manage to do it…

“Okay,” Aloy agreed. “I’ll bring the trophies to Ahsis.”

“Good,” Talanah said, satisfied. “Talk to me after you’ve done that.”

As she watched Aloy’s retreating back, Talanah was half certain that she’ll never see the human again – but she’d been a pleasant distraction, on this day where Talanah’s had to deal with so many unpleasant things.

* * *

 

The human came back.

It was almost surprising. Talanah had lived multiple human lifetimes, and almost all the humans that she had interacted with had disappointed her. Though to be fair, most elves had as well. Ahsis had never honoured her father or her brother after they fell in the dark elf revolution, even now when the elves are now in an uneasy peace against their enemies. Talanah prided herself on being cool and calm, but when Ahsis was involved, it was difficult to be that person.

Talanah heard about Aloy presenting her trophies to Ahsis, and how he seemed deeply unimpressed by them. Talanah knew that he at least knew who Aloy was now, which was a step in the right direction. If they know who you are, they can’t ignore you completely. This was a lesson that Talanah had learned, over the years.

Aloy approached her. “I did what you asked,” she opened with. Talanah wondered if it was because she was a human or if it was because of who she is as a person. “Ahsis told me that you should be focusing on finding Redmaw instead of helping me.”

“Who says I can’t do both?” Talanah said, amused. “Ahsis was just trying to get a dig at you because otherwise he would have had to acknowledge the trophies, which I heard were very fine. Good job.”

“Does that mean you’ll take me on as your Thrush?” Aloy asked.

Talanah raised an eyebrow. Well, whether it was a human thing or an Aloy thing, she was certainly very forward about what she wanted.

“We’ll see,” Talanah said, because she still hadn’t made up her mind about her. “I have another task for us first. There’s a village outside of Meridian that is being constantly attacked by monsters. Do you know any magic?”

“I dabble,” Aloy said. Talanah needed to know whether or not she was being modest or if she can’t use magic at all – either way, this mission will show her true colours.

“Well, then meet me there,” Talanah said, giving her the details. It’s likely that she can deal with this herself, but she wanted to get Aloy’s measure, and this seemed like a good way to do it.

* * *

 

Aloy was far more proficient at magic then she had let on. Talanah stopped short of naming her a fully proficient mage, but only because she casted with sigils instead of a staff. In a way Talanah admired the stealth of it. Aloy didn’t give away her talents as a mage by carrying a staff, and she was very skilled with a bow as well, so she can supplement either skill with the other in battle. Talanah was no slouch with magic herself, and together they drive away the glinthawks that were haunting this village.

After they were all gone, Talanah watched as Aloy inspected the monster’s corpses and stripped them of anything that she deemed valuable. Elven magic was different to human magic, and Talanah could still feel Aloy’s spells rippling across her skin. And even though she wasn’t familiar with human magic, Talanah still suspected that Aloy’s magic wasn’t exactly normal.

Even so, it was good to have a mage like her on side, and Talanah was now confident enough in her battling abilities to take her on as a Thrush. That left how Aloy would deal with the source of the glinthawks.

Aloy created a tracking spell and Talanah followed her from a distance as she traced the path of the glinthawks through the air. They follow the river until they get to a gorge which is filled with the rotting carcasses of snapmaws. Talanah wrinkled her nose at the smell. Glinthawks are notorious scavengers, and it was no wonder that they were being attracted to this kill site.

Aloy found the people who were responsible for killing the snapmaws, and Talanah followed her to the river again, where she killed her own snapmaw and harvested its heart. Aloy gave it to the hunters, who all departed peacefully.

“We need to do something about the snapmaws in the ravine,” Talanah said. Aloy turned to look at her.

“Let me guess, you were watching the whole time?” she asked wryly.

Talanah decided that yes, she did actually like this human quite a bit. “Tarkas taught me one thing for sure – always watch out for your Thrush.”

“So you’ve decided to take me on?” Aloy asked, excited. Talanah nodded.

“Yes. We’ll go back to the Lodge, but first – clean up.”

Talanah knows an incineration spell, and starts on one side of the ravine. Aloy sets her own magic to burning, but Talanah can’t feel its heat – whatever it is, it’s not traditional flame.

“You’re not a normal mage, are you?” Talanah asked.

“I prefer to call myself a witch, actually,” Aloy said.

Talanah laughed. “So you’ve got a thing for herbs, then?”

“They’re useful,” Aloy defended.

Talanah curled her lips into a smile. Yes, she did like Aloy quite a bit, indeed.

* * *

 

The fight against Redmaw is primal and intense. Talanah hadn’t felt fear like that running through her veins in a long time, and as her heart pounded her adrenaline away, she can’t quite say that she missed it.

Aloy stood beside her, and together they stared at the massive beast. It had taken all of Talanah’s magic and skill with a bow combined with all of Aloy’s magic and skill with a bow to kill it. Even then, if Ahsis hadn’t weakened the creature, Talanah wasn’t sure that they could have brought it down.

“Good job,” Aloy finally said. “That was some really good spellwork, Talanah.”

“Thanks,” Talanah said, grinning. “You know, you aren’t that bad with a bow… for a human.”

Aloy snorted. “What a compliment.” She said the words dryly, but her eyes were sparkling. It might have just been from the aftermath of the battle, but Talanah thought that Aloy enjoyed their banter just as much as Talanah did.

“So, now to go back and tell the Lodge that I’m the new Sunhawk,” Talanah mused. “I’m sure they’ll take that well.”

“Do you think they’ll doubt you?” Aloy asked, concerned.

Talanah sighed. “No. With Ahsis dead, no one can question that it was us who brought down Redmaw. But it won’t go easily, let’s just say that.” She leaned over to slant a smile at Aloy. “That’s just how it is with us elves. We don’t take changes very easily.”

“Except you,” Aloy pointed out. “You took me as a Thrush.”

“You deserved it,” Talanah said easily. “Besides, it was a good way to annoy Ahsis. He’s caused me enough grief over the years.” She looked over to where his body was. “Not any more now, though. That’s going to be a weird thought to get used to.”

Talanah looked at Aloy searchingly. “Now that I’m Sunhawk, I’ll probably have a lot more things to be doing,” she eventually said. Aloy kept her eyes level. “But I just want you to know that I’ll always have time for you, Aloy. For whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want, huh?” Aloy mused. “What about if I want a kiss?”

“You’re welcome to that, too,” Talanah said, amused.

“Right now?”

Aloy’s eyes were alive, and Talanah was drunk on victory and the sight of her. “I’d be offended if you didn’t,” she said, and enjoyed the way that Aloy’s eyes brightened.

When they kissed, Talanah felt her heart flip. She really was lucky that Aloy had wandered into the Hunter’s Lodge that day. Human lives were so fleeting, but Talanah was determined to savour Aloy for as long as she could hold her.

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was high fantasy, but this is basically just another urban fantasy fic lmao


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